GATCU (2018-2019)
GATCU (Global ATC Union) was the second ATC union to ever exist in GeoFS (the first was KMIA Control, but it went extinct). Its goals are: train ATC's, create a connected well-formed group of ATC's that can work in tandem to provide a better experience for pilots, and connect military groups to civilian groups through the UN-chartered ATC International. Members include MrGranola, Armageddon (the founder), Shallow and Falcon 1529. GATCU was started in 2018 as Civil Air Patrol (CAP). Modeled after the real life CAP, it quickly failed, and Armageddon changed the name to GATCU to reflect the goals of the group. GATCU was an inactive group, and recently merged with Rare ATC Group (RAG). It shut down when Armageddon left GeoFS in the summer of 2019 Goals The goals of GATCU are threefold: train ATC's, create a connected well-formed group of ATC's that can work in tandem to provide a better experience for pilots, and connect military groups to civilian groups through the UN-chartered ACT International. * Train ATC's: GeoFS desperately needs more ATC's. While more pilots are joining and flying every day, less ATC's are online, and the few ones that are usually can't do the job. This is why GATCU has taken the responsibility of training more ATC's. * Create a well-connected group of ATC's: ATC's may be able to do their jobs, but sometimes they need to coordinate their clearances to cope with events. Creating a well-connected group that has many professional ATC's up and down the ladder will alleviate the stress put on ATC's for KMIA, YSSY, and other major airports. * Connect military groups to civilian groups through ATC International: Military groups and civilian groups are isolated from each other by their ideologies. While the RCAF may be into military fighting and border security, DAL just wants to fly in Canada without being harassed the moment they enter. With ATC International, a UN-chartered organization aiming to improve military-civilian relations in GeoFS, the problem is solved. Motto The motto for GATCU is "Exemplary Clearance." This motto was chosen out of a list of four. The others are better for describing aspects of GATCU: "Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited H.W. Bush's funeral," "For the Good of all Pilots," and "De Sky, Sive in Terra, Nobis Aequaliter Nubila." How to Join It is simple to join GATCU. First, contact a recruitment officer (currently, Shallow is the only recruitment officer) and ask to join. The R.C. will then direct you to a hack.chat link or Discord server. Enter the chat room or server, and the R.C. will ask questions. The requirements of joining are: 150 hours of total flight experience, is in good standing with RCAF, USAF, and civilian pilots, and has some experience with ATC'ing. If on hack.chat, the R.C. will give you an email for you to contact, which will give you all the information you need to succeed in GATCU. if on Discord, the R.C. will directly give you the aforementioned information. History On 1/5/2019, Armageddon decided that GATCU should take control of all vacant ATC towers of major airports and jurisdictions. He classified vacant airports' ATC names into the format of codeTOWER. The major regions that have designated ATC's are designated by Armageddon until other ATC's are ready to help. GATCU started the Adopt-a-Tower program, which aims to provide an ATC for every major airport. Of course, if the airport is not used very often in-game, then it will not have an ATC, even if it is very busy in real life. Merger with RAG On March 1st, 2019,MrGranola, an active pilot, founded Rare ATC Group, an ATC group designed to work in small airports that are not hubs. He quickly got members and totaled at 6 before the merger. MrGranola agreed to merge with GATCU after talking with Armageddon. Sale to GeoFS RP On March 26, 2019, Shallow mistakenly sold the GATCU Discord Server to GeoFS RP. Armageddon, after some heated debate, allowed it to go through, making GATCU an official subsidiary of GeoFS RP. This sale will allow GeoFS RP to "spruce up," or make the Discord server cleaner and more modern. This is intended to help recruit more ATC's. Return to Private Ownership Armageddon got back the server and company rights in the beginning of May. Since then, only one member has joined, but the group is still reasonably active. Closure GATCU closed down on June 21st, 2019, after Armageddon left GeoFS. When he came back a week later he expressed interest in reviving the idea, but never made any moves towards it. Therefore, the group is considered to be totally defunct. History of GATCU In October 2018, GATCU was founded, and the response was better than might have been expected. The first ATC's to join then were Armageddon and Shallow, who both saw massive support from the pilots they interfaced with. Shallow was trained in ATC'ing, and quickly assumed International Status, being the first novice ATC to reach that in GATCU. Armageddon, who was already proficient, became the first ATC to clear 50 pilots in a single day. Masterisk joined soon after. A few months passed without any new members. However, the holidays brought nice presents to GATCU. Three ATC's, all well-known, joined within the month. 2019 began with Armageddon and Shallow asking YSSY (Syd tower) to join GATCU. YSSY asked to think it over, saying that it sounded tempting. The day after, other ATC's joined. Since then, other ATC's have joined, with the most recent being EIN1211. The full list of ATC's can be found here. So far, GATCU has seen positive reviews from many pilots, with the majority being in Delta Airlines for some reason. In March it merged with RAG, and near the end of May, Armageddon revitalized and reorganized the group.